Help
I'm using a Toshiba Satelite L300 with Windows Vista.
Just in case, I should start off mentioning that quite a while ago (at least a couple months), my x key stopped working. I figured I'd probably done something to the key, but since it's such a rarely used one and I'm unemployed, I opted to use my onscreen keyboard whenever I needed to use that key, figuring I could buy a replacement when I had money.
However, not too long after that, I starting having bigger issues. One day, and randomly as far as I'm aware, I couldn't type without opening menus on every keystroke. I panicked and restarted- no luck. However, I figured out that the symptoms were like those of the CTRL key being held down. I pressed CTRL + ALT and things were back to normal. I shrugged it off and thought everything was fine, but then it happened again- and kept happening occasionally. For a while, pressing CTRL + ALT worked fine, but then that solution failed as well.
Fast-forward to now. I have a strange solution that seems to only work using the on-screen keyboard (I know, I don't get it either. Again, this is going off my minimal knowledge)- if I press CTRL, then ALT, the keyboard buttons stay colored dark blue. I then press ALT and then CTRL. The buttons go back to being light blue, and off I go. I have to to this every time I bring my computer back after putting it on standby.
But then there's another problem. I mentioned that this only seems to work with the on-screen keyboard. If I ever have to shut down or restart for any reason, the first time I do so, the on-screen keyboard doesn't show up and can't be opened. With the CTRL issue in place, my computer is basically useless. Thankfully, if I shut down and restart again, the keyboard pops up automatically at start up. I can perform my little routine and work- until I need to shut down or restart again.
Obviously, unemployed or not, I need to find a solution now. My keyboard is certainly less clean than it should be, and given the issues with the x key, I've considered whether just replacing the keyboard would work. However, other users on different sites asking about similar problems have reported replacing the keyboard didn't help them. Since that problem is relatively minor, I'd hate to spend the money on a new keyboard (and possibly professional replacement- I'm paranoid now) only to have it do nothing for my more major problem.
So that's where I stand. Any solutions for a girl who has basically resorted to the "I'll poke things and make them work temporarily!" method of computer repair? Again, I'm sorry for the length of this and thanks so much for any help!
This post has been edited by Caitz: 21 June 2011 - 11:24 PM
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